Germans are the biggest bingers

Britons think they are the biggest binge drinkers in Europe - but, when it comes to downing pints, the Germans are in a league of their own.

The average German adult drank 255 pints of beer last year, 35 more than the average Briton, a poll revealed yesterday.

That is a national total of 21billion pints against Britain's 12billion pints.

A fifth of Germans said the point of drinking was to get drunk, compared with fewer than one in ten Britons. 'This could ease our reputation for lavish drinking,' said a spokesman for market researcher Mintel.